Open ended tickets to Thailand...

[marf]

For a few months now, I have been speaking to a girl in Bangkok online. She works as a teacher in a university. I plan to take a trip to Thailand and visit her. Approximately two weeks should do it, but what if I want to stay longer/shorter depending on how things go? I have heard that open dated tickets are expensive, and two singles are very much more expensive than a standard economy return with fixed out/return dates. How expensive approximately is it to amend the date after booking? Never done this before...

 

And how about entry permission? I understand that I can come visa exempt, but this requires a return flight - with a fixed date(?) and limits me to 30 days. Is there any issue with back-to-back visa exempts if need to be longer? I understand these cannot be extended.

 

Any other advice?

[sunnyboy2018]

A very good question.  The airlines are a real ripp off.A one way ticket is the same price as a return ticket. You could by acreturn ticket with a no charge or small charge for changing the date. Gulf Air?

[Thainesss]

26 minutes ago, marf said:

I understand that I can come visa exempt, but this requires a return flight - with a fixed date(?) and limits me to 30 days.

 

No, it requires "Proof of onward Travel" - meaning that they want to see another airline ticket for your departure from Thailand within 30 days. That ticket can be TO anywhere outside Thailand. 

And Thai Immigration never check for this, its the airline at your point of origin who check your proof of onward travel. 

 

To prove this you can purchase a cheap, no luggage air asia ticket from Bangkok to Saigon for $49 one way, and that will satisfy anyone who asks. 

 

10 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

A one way ticket is the same price as a return ticket.

 

Not true. 

 

30 minutes ago, marf said:

How expensive approximately is it to amend the date after booking? Never done this before...

 

Depends on several factors:

1 - Your original booking class fare. A cheap economy ticket has very high fees for changing your flight, and some super economy tickets can not be changed at all. 

 

2 - The price difference between your original ticket and the new date/day/ticket you want to change to. 

 

Keep in mind also that these fees incur PER FLIGHT, so if you have a 4 leg journey, that's 4 fees. 

 

I think the simplest and possibly cheapest way to do what you want to do would be to buy a super cheap one way economy ticket TO thailand, a super cheap throwaway Airasia ticket, and then book your return from within Thailand. 

Most of the other options are expensive. You can buy higher class fares that wave the fee for changing flights but they are expensive and you are still exposed to the "fare difference"

[sirineou]

shop around at the usual airfare websites, when you see a ticket you like, call the customer service agent of that website and ask the above question, some tickets have a fee for changing dates,  other don't, or have lower fees.

   I had to change the depart date in the past, I paid a Change fee , I think it was something  like 120-140 dollars, and depending on your new departure date, the departing ticket might be more than your original depart ticket or less. 

[Thainesss]

1 minute ago, sirineou said:

some tickets have a fee for changing dates,  other don't, or have lower fees.

 

Typically if you search on the airlines website itself it states clear as day what's called the "fare class rules" and outlines things like baggage and change fees etc. 

[Crossy]

Agree as above, or, if you feel nervous you could visit a travel agent with your requirements (but don't expect the absolute best deal).

 

As to permission to stay. You could come on a visa exemption for 30 days, you can extend that for a further 30 days at your local immigration office, cost 1,900 Baht.

[sunnyboy2018]

1 hour ago, Thainesss said:

 

No, it requires "Proof of onward Travel" - meaning that they want to see another airline ticket for your departure from Thailand within 30 days. That ticket can be TO anywhere outside Thailand. 

And Thai Immigration never check for this, its the airline at your point of origin who check your proof of onward travel. 

 

To prove this you can purchase a cheap, no luggage air asia ticket from Bangkok to Saigon for $49 one way, and that will satisfy anyone who asks. 

 

 

Not true. 

 

 

Depends on several factors:

1 - Your original booking class fare. A cheap economy ticket has very high fees for changing your flight, and some super economy tickets can not be changed at all. 

 

2 - The price difference between your original ticket and the new date/day/ticket you want to change to. 

 

Keep in mind also that these fees incur PER FLIGHT, so if you have a 4 leg journey, that's 4 fees. 

 

I think the simplest and possibly cheapest way to do what you want to do would be to buy a super cheap one way economy ticket TO thailand, a super cheap throwaway Airasia ticket, and then book your return from within Thailand. 

Most of the other options are expensive. You can buy higher class fares that wave the fee for changing flights but they are expensive and you are still exposed to the "fare difference"

A one way ticket is the same price as a return ticket. CORRECT!  I would be very happy if you could suggest an airline that will sell me a one way ticket from UK to Thailand at half the return price. I'm waiting. Thanks for your help.

[sirineou]

4 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

A one way ticket is the same price as a return ticket. CORRECT!  I would be very happy if you could suggest an airline that will sell me a one way ticket from UK to Thailand at half the return price. I'm waiting. Thanks for your help.

Wife went to Thailand a few months ago, Her mom was sick and we did not know how long she will stay. I got her an one way ticket thinking that when she was ready I would buy her and one way back.

BIG MISTAKE 

I could have got her an $800 two way ticket, and if she needed to stay longer pay a change fee and the difference in the price of the new ticket if any.

  When it came time for her to come back, the best  one way ticket from Thailand was almost as much as the original two way ticket.

Will never make that mistake again.

[Thainesss]

9 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

A one way ticket is the same price as a return ticket. CORRECT!  I would be very happy if you could suggest an airline that will sell me a one way ticket from UK to Thailand at half the return price. I'm waiting. Thanks for your help.

 

No, it is not the same price. Not even from the same airline unless you are limiting yourself to the expensive airlines like lufthansa. 

 

There are several different ways to save on airfare, the number one being that you do not have to book the same airline TO Thailand and BACK home. 

You also don't have to take the same airline the entire way in one direction, it gets more complicated, but it saves alot.

How about eva air and christmas day? 

 

Eva Air one way is 664 GBP  and 1100 GBP return from heathrow. 

 

https://book.evaair.com/plnext/EVAOnlineDX/Override.action?ENCT=1&ENC=990572D723A7BC83F77B4C6C03C69634D05C57AB7EE11E5639E2CD2119593ADDDC0562E080CE4BD1CD01272028CBBA89&ENC_TIME=20191122063937#/FPOW

[Thainesss]

5 minutes ago, sirineou said:

When it came time for her to come back, the best  one way ticket from Thailand was almost as much as the original two way ticket.

 

Were you searching on fixed dates? Some days in the week are insanely priced compared to others. If you leave on a wednesday and return on a sunday then you could be looking at 100% more in airfare vs flying both ways on a wednesday. 

[sirineou]

24 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

Were you searching on fixed dates? Some days in the week are insanely priced compared to others. If you leave on a wednesday and return on a sunday then you could be looking at 100% more in airfare vs flying both ways on a wednesday. 

Yea , I needed an irival on the weekend because i work, or in the evening at newark airport, so I can go after work, also she needed to come back with in a week from when she decided to  come, because she wanted to spend a couple of weeks with me in NY and then go to our florida home and go to work. She had being away from work far too long and they needed her. If times and length of wait was not an issue I could probably find a less expensive ticket.

Nonetheless IMO unless you are planning to extend  a very long time , getting a two way and changing the departure is the pest option. 

I guess the best way to resolve this is to research it all different ways.

  -See how much it would be to buy a ticket one way, (if that's an option and you don't need to show a return) and then do a search to see how much a return ticket would cost about the time you plan to return.

  - See how much an open return ticket would cost, if such thing is possible.

or buy a two way ticket and see how much it would cost to change.

  While we are on the subject, I am coming to Thailand in a few months and since I don't work anymore I might stay a year or two. But i don't think I can come there on a one way (my wife can because she is Thai)

So I am wondering if I could buy a two way ticket and then cancel the return and get credit for a future ticket purchase??

How do you guys who come on long stay do it?

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by sirineou

[Thainesss]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

But i don't think I can come there on a one way

 

You absolutely can, I literally just did it not 2 weeks ago coming in on a 30 day permission to stay. All you need is:

 

3 hours ago, Thainesss said:

"Proof of onward Travel" - meaning that they want to see another airline ticket for your departure from Thailand within 30 days. That ticket can be TO anywhere outside Thailand. 

And Thai Immigration never check for this, its the airline at your point of origin who check your proof of onward travel. 

 

To prove this you can purchase a cheap, no luggage air asia ticket from Bangkok to Saigon for $49 one way, and that will satisfy anyone who asks. 

 

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

So I am wondering if I could buy a two way ticket and then cancel the return and get credit for a future ticket purchase??

 

Highly doubt it unless you are flying business or higher with an airline that you are platinum with. 

 

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

How do you guys who come on long stay do it?

 

Exactly how I stated it above and in post #3. 

 

"Proof of onward travel" and researched "flexible days" flights. I flew one way on China Eastern on their new Herringbone business class seats from Chicago to BKK for $2000 one way, got a throwaway Air Asia ticket for $49 and showed that to the people that asked. 

[Elkski]

Just plan on 29 days and if the first two weeks don't go good go check out option number 2 if the first two weeks go great blow off option 2

[GalaxyMan]

When I changed the return date on my ticket 3 years ago, they charged me $250. That was with Emirates.

[Letseng]

2 single tickets are not necessarily more pricey than a return. Price depends on supply and demand. I just looked up single tix to Europe.

Cheap as who wants to fly in Nov.

Of course from Europe to Bkk price is much higher as more travel for a holiday now.

Just click your way through the  choice of airline sites and compare. 

A few days ago Qatar Airways came up cheapest in business from Bkk.

[gk10002000]

I have had open ended tickets on EVA from the USA to BKK and back several times.  The price was almost the same as confirmed return price.  And each time I was on a Visa Exempt (USA citizen).  Never had any problem at all.  And at the time EVA did not charge for changing a return leg, but even now, the change fee is only like $100 USD.  Note an open ended return is a round trip ticket and not as far as I have ever seen considered a one way ticket just because there is no confirmed return date. 

Edited November 23, 2019 by gk10002000

[gearbox]

On 11/22/2019 at 5:25 AM, sunnyboy2018 said:

A one way ticket is the same price as a return ticket. CORRECT!  I would be very happy if you could suggest an airline that will sell me a one way ticket from UK to Thailand at half the return price. I'm waiting. Thanks for your help.

It depends on the country. The low cost carriers sell one way tickets more or less half price, in fact sometimes the return ticket may be more expensive than the two one way tickets bought separately. From Australia there are at least 3 low cost carriers, I haven't bought a return ticket for ages. For UK I think it would be the Norwegian or Eurowings?

[millymoopoo]

Perhaps you could buy a flexible return fare (yes they are more expensive than the el cheapo economy fares) then if you need to you can change your return date and just get an el cheapo return fare to Siagon (or anywhere out of Thailand) with Vietjet/asiasia/malindo etc, fly out, return the next day and immigration give you another 30 day visa on entry.

[alex8912]

Have you discussed any sick buffalos or family members yet? If she answered yes, a two week return ticket should be just fine. 

[Caine]

Just book a flight that suits you. You will more than likely find the girl is a gold digger they are usually married no job and a couple of kids. Their so called husbands are happy to comply just to bring in money. They are 10 a penny in Thailand’s. Don’t be a mug. 

[Letseng]

On 11/22/2019 at 5:39 AM, sirineou said:

Wife went to Thailand a few months ago, Her mom was sick and we did not know how long she will stay. I got her an one way ticket thinking that when she was ready I would buy her and one way back.

BIG MISTAKE 

I could have got her an $800 two way ticket, and if she needed to stay longer pay a change fee and the difference in the price of the new ticket if any.

  When it came time for her to come back, the best  one way ticket from Thailand was almost as much as the original two way ticket.

Will never make that mistake again.

A few days ago I saw o/way in Business on Qatar for 43.000 THB.

Rtn was quoted at 88.000. 

[richard_smith237]

In the past I've purchased the 'cheaper option' i.e. Saver ticket etc which incurs a US$200 charge to change (Emirates).

[richard_smith237]

13 minutes ago, Letseng said:

On 11/22/2019 at 5:39 AM, sirineou said:

Wife went to Thailand a few months ago, Her mom was sick and we did not know how long she will stay. I got her an one way ticket thinking that when she was ready I would buy her and one way back.

BIG MISTAKE 

I could have got her an $800 two way ticket, and if she needed to stay longer pay a change fee and the difference in the price of the new ticket if any.

  When it came time for her to come back, the best  one way ticket from Thailand was almost as much as the original two way ticket.

Will never make that mistake again.

A few days ago I saw o/way in Business on Qatar for 43.000 THB.

Rtn was quoted at 88.000. 

Just purchased tickets for Japan. 

 

I looked at booking one-way outbound with Airmiles (the return airmiles seats were unavailable) and purchasing a one-way return. 

 

The one-way return was more expensive than purchasing a full return ticket !!!

[Darkside Gray]

You used to be able to purchase a open return ticket which was good for a year, I do not know if this us still a option.

[DJ54]

OP maybe I missed it..... where are you flying from? 

[Mac98]

Plan on 4 weeks and buy a RT ticket. If things go good with your new friend, great, you're covered. But if they don't, then spend the days left to you by celebrating your continued freedom in the LOS. 

[KhunBENQ]

4 hours ago, gearbox said:

For UK I think it would be the Norwegian or Eurowings?

Correct to the point!

But really low quality/low cost airlines.

Eurowings in the news every other time with cancelled or heavily delayed flights, people hanging around airports for more than a day etc.

 

[Thomas J]

On rare occasion I find a one way ticket that is as cheap as half of a round trip ticket.  However, I always get questioned on having a return ticket out of Thailand even though I have a retirement visa.  I would think you would need to have some sort of ticket to exit Thailand to get your airline at your origin let you on the plane.  You could book a second one way one day before departure and cancel it within the 24 hours if your airline has that 24 hour policy.  You could also purchase a cheap ticket to perhaps Vietnam and just throw it away but you would still be left with having to purchase that second one way ticket back home which probably would be expensive. 

[Peter Denis]

Airline pricing schemes are insane.

Luckily there is the power of the Internet search-engines to help you through that jungle..

You can easily save yourself hundreds of $s, by checking a Flight search-engine like MOMONDO.com.

Just put start-city and destination-city and leave/return date and presto you will get all possible flight-options ranked according to your preference (e.g. price / airline reputation / etc.).

Having done that you then change the leave/return dates to find better/cheaper options.

You can also check whether leaving from another near-by airport would not be a better choice.

When you have made your choice, then check whether it is more advantageous to book directly from the airline you have chosen (most of the time, you will find that it is actually more expensive).

 

If you buy a one-way ticket, the cheapest option for the required outbound flight from Thailand would probably be the AirAsia flight from HuaHin to Kuala Lumpur (under 30 $).

[khunPer]

On 11/21/2019 at 9:27 PM, marf said:

And how about entry permission? I understand that I can come visa exempt, but this requires a return flight - with a fixed date(?) and limits me to 30 days.

Check with the airlined, some tickets can be changed – return flight – for a fee, which might still makes them cheaper than two one-way tickets, or a changeable ticket.

 

You will get a visa exempt 30-day allowed stay stamped in your passport upon arrival. If you don't have a history of earlier often visits to Thailand – and don't appear suspicious – you will not be asked about return tickets or funds for your stay. But just in case, it's good to have a return ticket – or ongoing ticket – and 20,000 baht, or similar in foreign currency, in cash.

 

You can extend you stay by 30 days at a local immigration office for a modest fee, I think it's 2,000 baht now (used be be 1,900 baht). You need to fill in a form, a passport size photo, and photocopy of you passport's name page and page with entry stamp.

 

You can still do a so-called "visa run" to a neighboring country, eventually apply for a 60-days tourist visa, which might make re-entry more easy. A 60-days tourist visa can also be extended by 30 days. You can also apply for a 60-days tourist visa from your home country, for you first entry.

 

Edit: The latter might be vise, as I just noticed Thaivisa forum's visa-expert's reply in another thread:

 

Wish you good luck with your trip and visit of girlfriend...????

Edited November 23, 2019 by khunPer